Police: 7 & 12-year-old arrested after playing with Tec-9

By Cleveland 19 Digital Team and Sara Goldenberg| October 7, 2015 at 3:04 PM EST - Updated July 25 at 5:10 AM

The home where the 7-year-old boy allegedly found the gun. (Source: WOIO)

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - A 7-year-old and 12-year-old were arrested and charged Wednesday after police say they were playing with real weapons.

According to the police report, officers were called to the 8000 block of Whitehorn Avenue to check on a juvenile found with a "machine gun." When they arrived, they found a woman holding a bag that contained a Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol and one magazine loaded with live ammunition.

The woman told police she heard the kids talking outside her window and saw one trying to load the weapon. That's when she says she stepped in and took it from them and called police.

Officers patted down the juveniles for safety. According to the report, officers found a large sheathed knife, a stun gun and two live rounds of 9 mm ammunition on the 12-year-old.

The report shows that during questioning, the 7-year-old told officers he got the weapon from the mantel in his living room and claimed it belonged to his mother's boyfriend.

The mothers of both kids were on the scene. One was able to identify the taser and knife.

"I'm thankful my son is still here," said the mother of the 7-year-old boy.

We asked her if she knew how her son got the gun.

"He said the little boy told him to go get it. And I didn't know it was there," she said.

She says she doesn't know who the gun belongs to, but she's glad no one got hurt.

Both kids were arrested. The 7-year-old was charged with carrying concealed weapons. The 12-year-old was charged with possession of a concealed weapon.

Both boys appeared in juvenile court on Wednesday, but denied the allegations. They were allowed to go home, but one of the boys is wearing an electronic monitor.

A 9-year-old boy was with the other boys at the time of the incident, but police say he didn't have any weapons on him. He was released to his mother.

We spoke with his mom, who is deaf, through an interpreter.

"She was shocked. It was out of the blue," he said.

After recent gun violence took the lives of three young children in Cleveland, the 9-year-old's mom tells us she doesn't want to see any more guns in the wrong hands, especially a child's.

"She says the parents are responsible," the interpreter said as she spoke in sign language.

Smollett reported being beaten up by two men who shouted racist and anti-gay slurs and threw bleach on him. But his story fell apart when actors Smollett knew from the "Empire" set and the gym told police that Smollett paid them $3,500 to stage the attack.